The architecture of the Eternal City was magnificent; even in its decline, it remained extraordinary, possessing a style entirely distinct from the Golden Lineage's Leyndell. However, at this moment, the Tarnished and Millicent were in no mood to admire the beautiful buildings.
Standing upon the rooftops, they found themselves surrounded by Silver Tears. These small creatures were incredibly ferocious, their bodies capable of myriad transformations, discharging lightning and hardening their forms until they were tougher than ordinary weapons.
"These... these things are so strange..." The bodies of the tears combined both softness and rigidity. Fortunately, both the Tarnished and Millicent wielded keen blades; no matter how malleable the creatures were, they were still severed by the sharp steel.
The tears moved with agonizing slowness, sticking to the ground and refusing to budge regardless of how they were struck. The Tarnished was forced to deal with them one by one. Although they didn't pose much of a threat, fighting them was an exercise in frustration.
Once the immediate enemies were cleared, the Tarnished grabbed Millicent's hand and quickly left the area. Dealing with such creatures was a waste of time. It was largely thanks to Asimi within the Tarnished's body that the tears' suppression of the Golden Grace was neutralized, allowing the Tarnished to retain strength nearly identical to what he possessed on the surface.
Despite her agility, Millicent was still one-armed. Along the way, she relied on the Tarnished's support, and the two assisted each other in leaping across wider gaps.
The terrain of the underground world was jagged and uneven. Due to the meteor's indiscriminate bombardment, many paths that appeared to lead elsewhere were either smashed apart or blocked. Neither the Tarnished, Millicent, nor Asimi could fly.
While smaller gaps could be crossed using the reach of the Aspect of the Crucible: Tail, the current terrain was largely beyond the tail's reach. Consequently, they had to find an alternative route. Guided by Asimi's memories of the Eternal City, they eventually arrived at a new location.
The area was illuminated by white torches, and numerous white, withered humanoid beings wandered through the space.
"The Fallen Hawks?" These gaunt figures were familiar to the Tarnished. He had heard that in the past, the Storm Lord of Stormveil Castle—seeking to explore the world—had commanded his kinsman, the Stormhawk King, to dispatch these lean men to the underground. Their defining characteristic was the lack of heavy, ornate armor; they wore only the simplest of garments.
This group was known as the Fallen Hawk Company, and there was a sense that they had been abandoned...
What the Tarnished hadn't expected, however, was that they were wielding the power of Ghostflame. Though that cold, white fire was not as potent as the Ghostflame of the Deathbirds, it still served as a trump card for these subterranean exiles.
"It seems my Lord recognizes these outsiders... they came here long ago... but they have long since lost their humanity, wandering aimlessly in the vicinity." Asimi had seen these people before she left the underground.
They weren't particularly strong, but their numbers were vast; they likely spanned the entire underground.
"What should we do? Shall we go straight through?" Millicent asked for the Tarnished's opinion. Just as he was about to force his way through, he noticed the Fallen Hawk soldiers wobbling toward an arched gate behind them. Many, due to their unsteady gait, tumbled into the bottomless abyss below.
"I remember now. My Lord, this is a courtyard of Nokron. Although it belongs to Nokron's territory, it is still some distance from the city proper."
After the group had completely departed, the Tarnished and Millicent jumped down and entered a door leading to a small room that seemed untouched by time. The floor and walls were remarkably clean.
"Does your Eternal City have some special cleaning method? It's much better than Leyndell." Leyndell was periodically covered by falling leaves from the Erdtree, making cleaning a tedious task.
"Haha, you would have to ask the architects who built this city..."
Stepping out of the room, they found a circular garden. Many members of the Fallen Hawks were crouching in the grass, plucking at it with singular focus, completely failing to notice the duo. Their behavior was bizarre, as if they were conducting some sort of survey. It seemed the King's command was deeply ingrained; even having lost their sanity, they continued to carry out their orders.
They were just like the many soldiers the Tarnished had encountered upon his return to the Lands Between.
The two successfully passed through a new arched gate. Ahead was a deep pit bisected by a massive structure, leaving only a path on the right side for travel.
"My Lord... please be careful. There is one of my kind ahead." As they were about to step through the gate, Asimi suddenly became very guarded.
"One of your kind?" Millicent paused. Hadn't they already dealt with many tears? Why the caution... unless it wasn't a simple tear?
"My Lord, Miss Millicent... do not stop once you enter. Strike the ground immediately. Do not let that creature react."
Seeing Asimi's wariness, the Tarnished and Millicent nodded. Following her advice, the moment they stepped onto the bridge ahead, they unleashed their power and struck the floor. As a result, a tear was smashed out from the cracks in the floorboards.
It was tossed high into the air before crashing back down, turning into a puddle-like mass.
"Hmph!" Seeing this, Asimi flew out of the Tarnished's body at maximum speed. She transformed and pinned the tear down with a palm. "To think you would try to mimic my host... you are not worthy. Submit to me..." Under Asimi's pressure, the tear beneath her hand became much more docile.
"Miss Asimi... did you say that this tear intended to mimic the Tarnished?" Millicent asked curiously, looking at the creature that resembled a normal tear in appearance.
"Precisely. It has become a Mimic Tear, a further evolutionary form of the Silver Tear. It is capable of mimicking other living beings." Before long, the Mimic Tear in Asimi's hand gradually shrank, eventually turning into a palm-sized, embryo-like form.
This represented the tear's total submission. Although it had become a Mimic Tear, it still lacked a self-consciousness. When encountering a tear of a higher "grade," it would submit directly, clearing all data and reverting to its most primitive state.
"Lord, please take this... it may be useful later. This is called a Larval Tear. It is the most primitive state of the tears, existing between a biological and non-biological state." Asimi handed the Larval Tear to the Tarnished and returned to his body.
Millicent, curious about the small silver object, stepped forward and poked it a few times. It was soft and quite elastic.
"Asimi, let me ask you something. Can this Larval Tear repair severed limbs or things like that?"
"Tarnished..." Millicent understood his intent immediately, her heart warming.
"Theoretically, it is possible. However, the rot within Miss Millicent is the mortal enemy of all living things. A tear has a sliver of biological character; I fear it might not hold up... But if Miss Millicent's rot can be further suppressed, it is not impossible... There is another way, which is to reshape the entire body using the tear, though that depends on Miss Millicent's own will..."
"There are still many Larval Tears within the Eternal City... if you have other friends who need their forms reshaped, you can collect more. A new body composed of a tear can break the shackles of ordinary humans... especially for those who study the sorceries of the stars..."
"It seems your situation won't be that easy to solve," the Tarnished said, glancing at Millicent. She gave him a gentle smile, telling him not to worry.
"You have helped me more than enough... I cannot rely on you too much." Millicent did not want to become over-reliant on his kindness.
"Fine. But we are companions now; there's no need to be so formal. If you need something, just say it."
"Yes, I know."
Continuing forward, the group crossed the long bridge and officially entered the heart of the underground world through a gap. The air was filled with song, and the quiet, peaceful atmosphere charmed Millicent. It was her first time seeing such a tranquil place; she felt an indescribable sense of vitality permeating the area.
"Asimi, I recall these are the Ancestral Followers, yes? Devotees of the Ancestral Spirit," the Tarnished said, looking at the people ahead wearing glowing horn ornaments.
"Indeed," Asimi replied briefly. Millicent felt as though a door to a new world had opened, and she curiously asked the two what an Ancestral Spirit was.
With the combined explanation of the Tarnished and Asimi, Millicent came to understand the nature of the Ancestral Spirit.
It was an ancient deity of the Lands Between, a sacred beast representing the cycle of life and the flourishing of all things. Life sprouted from death, and life sprouted from life; death was never its end. It was one of the few gentle deities in the Lands Between.
Unlike other gods who would burn the world or bring about rot at the slightest provocation, the Ancestral Spirit was incredibly docile and was the true deity that had the most contact with mortals.
In legend, it appeared as a giant, pale-blue stag.
"New life from death..." Millicent once again felt the complexity of existence.
"I have never seen an Ancestral Spirit, but based on these legends, it seems to be a relatively gentle existence." After all, its reason for being was different. The Ancestral Spirit symbolized life, whereas other deities represented different powers; naturally, the intimacy of the Ancestral Spirit was higher.
Power is not something everyone possesses, but life descends equally upon every creature. Only with life can one be considered a living thing.
"Speaking of which, we've come this far, but there's no sign of Blaidd..." They tried their best not to disturb the Ancestral Followers, who seemed to be performing a ritual, and walked to the side. Iji had said Blaidd arrived at the Eternal City ahead of them, but there was still no trace of him. Something was definitely wrong.
However, since they were already here, turning back was not an option. They would find the item Ranni wanted first, then contact her about Blaidd upon their return. A grown man like him couldn't just vanish into thin air.
As they hurried toward their goal, the duo accidentally lit a pillar. Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere underwent a subtle change. The singing and dancing Ancestral Followers stopped and began to turn their gaze toward the Tarnished and Millicent.
"What's going on? Why did the fire light up all of a sudden?" The Tarnished looked confused; he and Millicent hadn't done anything.
"This... could it be the flame of life? It seems the vitality of my Lord and Miss Millicent has awakened this flame." It was a pale-blue flame. Rumor had it that lighting all the pillars would awaken the Ancestral Spirit.
"To think such a thing exists... uh... these Ancestral Followers won't attack us, will they?" Millicent looked at the oddly-behaving followers, unable to read their emotions at all. The Ancestral Followers and the people of the surface spoke different languages.
"They shouldn't... the Ancestral Followers are not a bloodthirsty race." It could be said that the Ancestral Followers were a rare, docile race in the Lands Between. As devotees of the life-beast, why would they kill the innocent? Unless the tribe was threatened, they were usually quite gentle.
After Asimi finished speaking, a female Ancestral Follower who appeared to hold a high status approached them, cradling something that looked like a deer skull. She then began to gesticulate and dance before them.
"Asimi, you've spent a long time underground, do you know what this means?" The Tarnished knew little of the underground and was unfamiliar with the Ancestral Followers.
"This... please allow me." Asimi did indeed understand a bit of the Ancestral Followers' communication. She engaged in a dialogue with the priestess, consisting mostly of physical gestures. Finally, Asimi nodded and relayed the priestess's words.
The gist was that they shared an affinity with the Ancestral Spirit. They hoped the Tarnished and Millicent would awaken the other pillars. Once all the torches were lit, the Ancestral Spirit would bestow a blessing upon the people. More importantly, they could further control the Scarlet Rot within Millicent's body.
Since ancient times, the Ancestral Spirit and the Rot had been opposing forces. Although both welcomed new life from death, the Rot was a decomposer, while the Ancestral Spirit acted like a mother, accepting life that was about to pass and using life as energy—with itself as the medium—to bring about rebirth.
The characteristics of the Ancestral Spirit and the Rot were polar extremes. Therefore, those protected by the Ancestral Spirit did not fear toxins or rot.
"Is that so?" The Tarnished glanced at Millicent. It seemed it was indeed necessary; even if it couldn't be completely uprooted, the more safeguards, the better.
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